Report Title:

Education

Description:

Alters Department of Education's energy-savings program to account for state department offices located at individual schools.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	3282
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2008
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating to education.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that in 2007, the department of education initiated an energy savings program that called for public schools that exceeded their base electricity budgets to pay the department of education half of the amount of the excess, and for public schools that decreased their energy expenses to get a rebate from the department of education for half of their savings.

     The base energy usage was determined by taking a three-year average of electricity usage, and that base is used to determine whether a school is lowering or increasing its energy consumption.  However, the legislature also finds that the department of education itself rents out space at various public schools to department of education entities or to private entities, contributing to the energy consumption at a school. The department has no incentive to reduce its own or the energy consumption of the lessees, on a school campus.  This creates a situation where a school may show that it is increasing its energy consumption while the increase is actually attributable to the department itself or its lessees.

     Leased offices, generally open forty hours a week, tend to use more electricity than an average classroom and adversely impact the budget of schools that rent out office space.

     Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to discount the electricity used by leased entities of the department of education when situated on school campuses in determining the cost of increases in its electricity usage.

     SECTION 2.  For the purpose of any state program that measures electricity usage at public schools, the electricity usage of the department of education on school campuses shall not be attributable to the school.  If the department of education is unable to determine the amount of its electricity usage on a particular school campus, no detriment shall accrue to the school.

     SECTION 3.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2008.

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________